A new method of determining the solute permeability of hollow-fiber dialysis membranes by means of laser lights traveling along optic fibers

To develop a new method of determining solute permeability more simply and accurately, the authors employed light from a laser traveling along quartz optic fibers. Dialysis experiments at 310 K were made with a single hollow fiber containing aqueous test solutes. A membrane tube was sealed at either end with quartz optic fibers. Helium-neon and helium-cadmium laser lights emitted from one of these optic fibers into the test solution at wavelengths of 543 and 442 nm for vitamin B12 and cytochrome-C, respectively, were caught by the other optic fiber and detected with a silicon photodiode. The solute permeability for cytochrome-C obtained by this method was almost in agreement with that for beta-2-microglobulin by the radioisotope method. This study demonstrates the usefulness of light from a laser traveling along quartz optic fibers in determining the solute permeability of hollow-fiber dialysis membranes.